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My 10'-by-5' under construction 3-rail layout is supposed to resemble New England and upstate New York, so I mostly run equipment from the New Haven, Boston & Maine, and New York Central railroads. Today, I decided to run a Weaver model which I bought at least ten years ago and hadn't run for two years - Maine Central 501, a 2-8-0 steam engine. Since the layout is small, I run short trains and small engines - slowly. So, I coupled an MEC caboose and boxcar behind the locomotive, set my Z-4000 to 10 volts, and got this short freight moving at about 25 mph. I really enjoyed running this engine! The steam sounds and, especially, the whistle are as good as any other steamer that I own. Some pictures attached. The station in the last photo is a model of the station in Phillips, Maine on the former 2-foot narrow gauge Sandy River Railroad.

MELGAR

MELGAR_MAINE_CENTRAL_501_10X5_LAYOUT_1

 

 

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DAVE C, COACH JOE, MODEL RAILROADER, MIKE and T8AFAO,

Thanks for the comments. First, about the Weaver engines: I have several of their Diesels, 2-8-0 die-cast steamers, and brass steamers. I really like them all. As far as the layout, I've been working on it for almost three years since I retired. It's supposed to look like a single-track branch line in rural New England between 1920 and 1960. About half is scenery, with a truss bridge, wood trestle, stream, and short tunnel. The town side is old-style buildings, most built from kits but some scratch-built.  Not too much track - it's not typical out in the country. The water is Envirotex two-part epoxy. Easy to use if you follow the directions. E-mail me if I can be of assistance.

MELGAR

DAVE FUNK

Thanks. I wanted to convince myself that it is possible to build a realistic small layout. The layout had to have a stream with factory buildings along the sides, a tunnel exit leading directly onto a bridge, a trestle, and a hill above the tunnel. These things were intended to provide differences in elevation, which I feel add to realism. The objective was to have the train pass below some parts of the terrain and above others, as on a real railroad. The scenery is carved pink foam covered by a thin layer of Mold-a-Scene plaster. That was in one half of the layout. The other half will be a small town when finished. The layout is designed and built in two 5'-by-5' sections to be transportable, if necessary. The tunnel and hill, bridges and buildings are removable. Table is modular. I did not want to have to tear this layout down if I move...

MELGAR

I agree with others who have commented about your railroad having the right blend of track, scenery and structures. Often modelers seem to be collectors of everything and pile it on a layout until it looks like a circus. You have succeeded in making realism the dominant characteristic...and that's an elusive quality in our hobby.

Bob

At the time these were sold by Weaver, K-Line was heavy into their bankruptcy,  Weaver acquired these, and I think one other steam locomotive, (?? a Pacific??), that had been produced for K-Line from the Chinese manufacture.  Most likely final paint and lettering was done by Weaver at their facility in Northumberland, PA.   They were sold at a very good, discounted, price at the time.   TMCC control, they lack speed control, though in some cases EOB upgrades may have been done.  It is a pretty good model of a Baldwin locomotive.  In some cases artistic liberty was taken and expanded to similar Alco consolidations.   Beautiful model and layout, thanks for posting.     

Another one from the same molds.

   

Last edited by Mike CT

Hello Mike & Dave, both K-Line and Weaver offered the die-cast Pacifics at the same time with K-Line having only a few liveries and Weaver having many liveries.

Hello Melgar, your layout looks great. I have tried to stay in New England with B&M locos, passenger cars, etc. and NE branded freight cars. My scenery has been kept simple with only one level, a double main line and about six sidings with a few crossovers. I think that I have every loco that Weaver built with the B&M logo, including a RS-3 that was made for sale by Charles Ro in blue with the old chain drive.

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